New Delhi, March 20 -- Indian IT stocks traded higher on Friday, supported by improved sentiment following Accenture's Q2 earnings. The Nifty IT index rose over 2%, following strength in the broader Indian stock market.

Oracle Financial Services Software surged nearly 5%, while Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Persistent Systems, Infosys and Mphasis gained over 2% each. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and Coforge also rose more than 1%. Barring LTIMindtree, all other constituents of the Nifty IT index were trading in positive territory.

The broader market rally further supported sentiment, with the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 trading over 1% higher each, aided by a short-covering bounce following the previous session's sharp decline....